Sophocles and the Greek Tragic Tradition

by Simon Goldhill, Edith Hall

Overview

This book contains thirteen essays by senior international experts on Greek tragedy looking at Sophocles' dramas. They reassess their crucial role in the creation of the tragic repertoire, in the idea of the tragic canon in antiquity, and in the making and infinite re-creation of the tragic tradition in the Renaissance and beyond. The introduction looks at the paradigm shifts during the twentieth century in the theory and practice of Greek theatre, in order to gain a perspective on the current state of play in Sophoclean studies. The following three sections explore respectively the way that Sophocles' tragedies provoked and educated their original Athenian democratic audience, the language, structure and lasting impact of his Oedipus plays, and the centrality of his oeuvre in the development of the tragic tradition in Aeschylus, Euripides, ancient philosophical theory, fourth-century tragedy and Shakespeare.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521887854
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	02/26/2009
Pages:	354
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Simon Goldhill is Professor of Greek, Cambridge University and a Fellow of King's College. He has published widely on Greek literature and drama, with books including Reading Greek Tragedy (1986), Performance Culture and Athenian Democracy (co-authored with Robin Osborne, 1999), and How to Stage Greek Tragedy Today (2007).

Edith Hall is Research Professor in Classics and Drama at Royal Holloway, University of London. Her book Greek Tragedy and the British Theatre 1660–1914 (co-authored with Dr Fiona Macintosh, 2005) was runner-up for the Theatre Society Book Prize and the Criticos Prize 2006, and shortlisted for the Runciman Prize, as was her Theatrical Cast of Athens (2006).

Table of Contents

List of illustrations; Notes on contributors; Foreword Paul Cartledge; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; 1. Sophocles: the state of play Simon Goldhill and Edith Hall; Part I. Between Audience and Actor: 2. The audience on stage: rhetoric, emotion, and judgement in Sophoclean theatre Simon Goldhill; 3. 'The players will tell all': the dramatist, the actors and the art of acting in Sophocles' Philoctetes Ismene Lada-Richards; 4. Deianeira deliberates: precipitate decision-making and Trachiniae Edith Hall; Part II. Oedipus and the Play of Meaning: 5. Inconclusive conclusion: the ending(s) of the Oedipus Tyrannus Peter Burian; 6. The third stasimon of Oedipus at Colonus Chris Carey; 7. The logic of the unexpected: semantic diversion in Sophocles, Yeats (and Virgil) Michael Silk; 8. The French Oedipus of the inter-war period Fiona Macintosh; Part III. Constructing Tragic Traditions: 9. Theoretical views of Athenian tragedy in the 5th century BC Kostas Valakas; 10. Athens and Delphi in Aeschylus' Oresteia Angus Bowie; 11. Feminized males in Bacchae: the importance of discrimination Richard Buxton; 12. Hektor's helmet glinting in a fourth-century tragedy Oliver Taplin; 13. Seeing a Roman tragedy through Greek eyes: Shakespeare's Julius Caesar Chris Pelling; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

Review of the hardback: '… a fine book, one that re-appraises Sophocles' legacy in a way that repays consideration.' Bryn Mawr Classical Review

From the Publisher